Sewn Into History
by crazy-instincts
Summary: The Marauders enter their Seventh Year and the First War begins. This is a story of James and Lily falling in love. This is a story of friendship, as well as the pain of war. James/Lily and eventually a little Remus/Sirius. Will be novel length.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_End of Sixth Year, 1977_

"I need you both to understand what I'm asking. This is not a decision to make lightly." Dumbledore spoke slowly and deliberately, his chin resting lightly upon the tips of his fingers. For the first time in Lily's memory, his eyes weren't twinkling, but were solemn and concerned, his mouth curving down in a firm line.

"Consider what I have said this morning over your holiday break. Perhaps in September, you both will have made your decisions."

Lily was shocked and overwhelmed. She stared down at her pale legs, her black school skirt sitting neatly across her thighs. Her hands were clenched together in her lap. Lily glanced to her side, Alice looked just as unsure as Lily felt.

"Now, I think it is time to attend breakfast and eat a sturdy meal before the train ride home." Dumbledore stood and led them to the door of his office.

Alice and Lily walked along the third floor corridor silently. Their shoes made tapping sounds on the stone floor, sending echoes through the hallway.

Alice broke the silence. "Are you going to do it? Are you going to join Dumbledore's organization?"

Lily glanced at her best friend, frowning. "Are you?"

"Don't know."

"Me neither."

They stumbled into the cacophony of noise in the Great Hall, and thoughts of rising Dark Lords, murder and secret societies trickled out of their minds. 

* * *

Petunia was clinging to the arm of her boyfriend of sixth months, Vernon Dursley. Her thin angular frame was clinging to his bulky form, a glass of wine held in one of his large hands and the half-empty bottle in the other. Petunia sneered across the dining room table at Lily, her arms latched onto Vernon's arm.

"Vernon, tell my sister about the business you run with your father."

Vernon looked at Lily, who shrunk back a little into her chair, setting her knife and fork down firmly on her plate.

"Drilling. I run a drilling business. Good money. Sturdy job. Respectable." Vernon grunted in pride. Vernon lifted his left arm and patted Petunia on top of her head. Petunia giggled, satisfied with Vernon's attempt at friendliness and intimacy.

Lily pushed back her chair and stood. Sliding her dinner plate into her hands.

"May I be excused? Lily looked to her mother and father. They nodded.

"Of course Lily."

Lily escaped to her room and sat on her bed, pulling her knees up against her chest. She felt sick looking at what her little sister had turned into. She didn't understand where the sweet little ten year old girl with the bouncy blonde bob had disappeared to.

Lily fiddled with her wand between her fingers, watching as multi-coloured sparks floated through the air as she slowly swished it.

"Willow, ten and a quarter inches, swishy." Lily pictured Ollivader's intense gaze in her mind.

Lily flicked her wand and watched as flames encompassed a piece of scrap parchment. Tendrils of fire licked the ink and left a small, neat pile of ashes on Lily's desk. She smiled. It felt good to be able to use her magic at home, now that she was of age.

She could hear Vernon's explosive laughter and Petunia's nervous giggle from the sitting room downstairs. Lily spun around and flung out her wand again. A hole burnt through the window curtain. She grinned at her nonverbal spell accomplishment.

Suddenly, Lily was laughing. Her feet were moving, dancing, around the room. She was spinning, her wand weaving and waving as she conjured, transfigured and charmed objects around her bedroom. Quickly, she cast a silencing charm as her desk chair flew across the room.

Lily grinned. Even if she'd lost her sister, at least she had her magic. Her magic would always be there.

Lily barely noticed when her wand slipped from her fingers and landed softly on the bed. Instead, she kept dancing, her arms still waving wand movements and incantations. Her feet stopped as she held her arms forward, watching as a several ducks materialized on the carpet. Quacking, the ducks waddled over the floor, their webbed feet making small taping noises and their wings gently flapping. Lily looked at her hands, then across the room at her wand tucked between the bed sheets. Closing her eyes, Lily began to move her arms, undoing the incantations nonverbally and without her wand. When she opened her eyes, the ducks were gone and the curtain was mended. She grinned widely.

In that moment, Lily made her decision. She was not going to turn into her sister. She was going to make a difference, and she would fight for Dumbledore's Order. 

* * *

Her shoes slapped against the pavement as she jogged, her breath moving steadily in and out of her body. Lily's forehead was beaded with sweat, streaks of her red hair were darkened with the wetness of perspiration.

It was calming. Exercise made her miss Hogwarts less. It made her worries about the future Dark Lord fade away.

* * *

"Lily, you've been working out an awful lot lately. You've lost weight." Lily's mother stood in the doorway to her father's shed where Lily was driving her fists repetitively into the punching bag.

"I know. I'm working off stress. I'm fine mum, just getting fit." Lily smiled at her mother.

Mrs. Evans smiled back. "Well, you do look very healthy. You've put on some muscle." Laughing, Lily turned back and returned to punching the bag.

Suddenly, she had a routine. In mornings Lily ran. She didn't know for how long or how many miles. She just enjoyed the feeling of running. The wind rushing past her and the strength in her limbs. She would do sit ups and crunches and push ups. She would hit the punching bag. She studied advanced magic. Offensive and defensive spells, spells that worked with emotions and the natural elements and with the mind.

If she kept busy she didn't think about how serious Dumbledore looked when he talked to her and Alice, or about how her simple, oblivious family might end up in danger from the Wizarding World. So she kept running, and punching and practicing wandless magic. 

* * *

Lily grinned when a school owl entered her window one morning. Even after six years of the Wizarding World, magic still enthralled her. Lily offered her toast crusts to the owl.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any owl treats."

A gold badge fell into her hands form the envelope. _Head Girl_. A warmth filled Lily's chest. Even with the impending dangers Dumbledore ahd talked about, Lily was determined to make this a good year. 

* * *

Her feet were pounding the pavement again, but her mind was elsewhere. She hadn't heard from Alice for since the train home. Neither of them had owled each other. Lily supposed it was because of how shaken they had both been after Dumbledore's meeting.

She missed Alice. Alice had been the smiling face that welcomed her into the wizarding world. Lily remembered running towards the train on September the first as an eleven year old. She was late; she had only run through the barrier right on eleven o'clock. Petunia had thrown a tantrum and delayed them. Lily had thrown her bags onto the moving train, and was jogging to keep up with it. A smiling face of dark curly hair had appeared in the opening. Two small hands had grasped Lily's and hurled her up onto the train.

The two girls stood facing each other, their hair blowing around each other's faces from the wind rushing by the rapidly speeding up train.

"I'm Alice Prewett."

"Lily Evans."

"Chocolate frog? My dad gave me loads for the train."

Lily grinned and accepted the candy, following as Alice wheeled Lily's suitcase into her cabin. "You look like a Gryffindor to me." Alice remarked over her shoulder. Lily giggled and munched on the chocolate, not understanding but interpreting the strange statement as a compliment. Alice grinned back.

Lily was pulled out of the past suddenly as the breath was sucked from her lungs. In a moment, she had fallen to her knees, gasping for air.

"Lils?"

Lily looked up from her vantage on the floor to see seventeen-year old Alice Prewett, standing in shorts and a sports-bra, her hands on her hips.

"Hello Ali." Lily stood smiling, realizing that she'd accidentally apparated when thinking about Alice. Quickly, Lily skimmed her hands over her body, making sure she hadn't splinched herself.

The two girls looked at each other. Both were wearing workout gear. Alice had a headband holding back her curly brown hair. Her fists were wrapped in white material for boxing the punching bag hanging beside her.

Alice grinned. "So, I take it you decided to take Dumbledore up on his word and started training?"

Lily laughed, grateful for the company of her friend. "Yeah. That covers it."

Alice pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail, her blue eye sparkling. "Come on, let's do some sparring."

* * *

They sat on the porch drinking lemonade, their bodies tired and sweaty.

"I'm scared Lil."

"Me too. All I know about Dark Lords stems from Grindelward. I don't know how to handle a wizarding war. All I know is that I somehow have to help."

"Me too."

The talked about Lily's wandless magic and about Alice's spell writing. Alice handed Lily a thin book without a title.

"It's an old Prewett volume on wandless magic."

Lily smiled. "Thanks Ali."

Alice smiled. "Always."

* * *

Author's Note: Please review and share your opinion! The story will pick up in the next chapter as the Marauders arrive back at Hogwarts for Seventh Year. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Disclaimer:__ All of Harry belongs to JKR. I am writing for fun, not for profit. _

Remus can see Sirius and Peter through the cabin window. He stands, on the moving train, his trunk blocking the walkway, and contemplates entering. Sighing, he opened the door and sits resolutely down next to Sirius.

Sirius' eyes widened, his mouth forming an unusual expression of cautious joy. Remus' lips twitched at Sirius' face, suddenly, it became blindingly obvious why he had missed him so much.

"You can smile properly Sirius." Remus pulled a book from his bag and flipped through the pages until he comes to his bookmark.

"You forgive me?" Sirius' eyes were bright, as he stared at Remus, grinning widely. "You forgive me for the Snivellus Incident?"

Remus shot Sirius a quick glare.

"By Snivellus, I of course mean Severus Snape! But you forgive me Moony?" By this stage, Sirius was positively bouncing in his seat.

Remus couldn't help but smile back. ""Yes Sirius, I forgive you." Suddenly, Remus was choking on a mouthful of long black hair as he was leapt upon by an ecstatic Sirius Black. Peter giggled at the boys from the opposite seat.

After a prolonged moment, Sirius let go of Remus and broke of a row of chocolate from Remus' Honeydukes block.

Sirius perked up, sitting straighter in his seat. "Quiet lads", he said to Remus and Peter. "If you listen very closely, I think we can hear Evan's yelling at Prongs."

* * *

James fiddled with his Head Boy badge nervously between his fingers before braving a glance back up at Lily Evans. She looked confused.

"Where's Remus?"

James silently passed Lily his letter, Dumbledore's emerald green script luminescent on the parchment. Lily stared at the writing, her eyes widening. James watched her as she examined his letter very thoroughly.

She had changed over the summer, at first glance, the changes were not obvious, but when one was well trained in the art of observing Lily Evans, as he was, the little things became evident. She wasn't thinner, but she was fitter and had more muscle. Her pale skin was slightly tanned, she glowed a soft light golden. She looked healthy, her cheeks were bright, with her long red hair pulled back into a practical ponytail, wisps of escaping hair brushing her cheeks.

"Stop staring at me Potter." Lily sighed and looked up from the letter. James shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously.

"Well," She said, as she looked James up and down, evaluating. "It looks like I have to put up with you this year, Potter."

"I'm not going to be a nuisance, Evans." James hurriedly defended himself. "You and Remus can teach me how to be a mature authority figure."

Lily snorted as she passed James his letter and walked from the compartment. "That's quite a task, Potter." She turned back around suddenly and stared James in the eye. "If you don't properly fulfill your duties as Head Boy, if you play pranks with Black and insult and hex Slytherins, then you will suffer my wrath." Lily stormed out, the door slamming shut behind her.

James sighed. Overall, he thought the meeting had gone fairly well. He had expected much more violent exclamation regarding his unworthiness of a position of leadership.

James, absorbed in his thoughts about finally winning over Lily Evans, bumped into a small, second year Slytherin boy in the train corridor. James looked down and recognized the boy, a smile spreading across his face.

"Sorry about that Lewis, wasn't watching where I was going." James patted the small black-haired boy on the shoulder. Lewis grinned back.

"James! Good to see you." Lewis glanced up and down the empty corridor, his eyes darting and searching for eavesdroppers. "I just heard something you might be interested in."

James nodded, leaning closer to the small, Slytherin half-blood boy.

"It was Bellatrix Black and Rodolphus Lestrange. They were talking about a rising power that interests dark pureblood families. They mentioned something about an actual Dark Lord." Lewis' eyes were wide, his expression fearful.

James smiled at the boy. "Thanks for letting me know Lewis. Don't worry yourself, they like to talk big all the time." James clapped the boy on the shoulder lightly.

"It's good to know there are decent Slytherins, even if you are a rare breed." Lewis grinned back proudly.

* * *

Alice looked out the small window of the compartment, looking out into the train corridor.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to put up with him. Why couldn't Dumbledore have chosen Remus? He's not much of a leader, but at least he's not a moron."

"I don't know Lil, right now he seems like Head Boy material to me." Alice turned around from her position as voyeur and grinned at Lily. Lily raced forward and pressed her face against the window. She watched as James Potter smiled and chatted with a small Slytherin boy who had already changed into his Hogwarts robes.

"I wouldn't call him moronic. Right now, I'd call him friendly and kind. Plus, he is actually encouraging inter-house friendship." Alice shrugged. Lily gaped at the sight in front of her.

"I can't hear what they're saying!" Lily lifted her wand to cast a listening charm.

"Watch out!" Alice grabbed Lily and pulled her down beneath the window so they were both crouching on the carpeted train floor. "He nearly saw us." Alice watched Lily gape as she tried to come up with an explanation for James Potter's unexpected behaviour.

"Lil, maybe you should try and give him a chance. You will be working with him all year after all."

Lily huffed and threw a chocolate frog at Alice as she continued to puzzle about James Potter.

* * *

"Tell me lads," James said, lying down forlornly on his four-poster bed. "Is my case completely hopeless? Will I never win her over?"

Two responses sounded.

"Yes you will!" Peter exclaimed, smiling at James in encouragement.

Sirius snorted. "Not a chance Prongs. My condolences."

James slumped, his head hitting the mattress as he stared at the ceiling. "Moony? Evans loves you. What do you think?" James looked at Remus desperately, his eyes widening in an attempt of Sirius' puppy-dog look.

"Ah – I'm, und.. ah, rhmnefgeh…" Remus continued to stare down into his book.

"That didn't even make sense. Give me advice Moony."

Remus sighed, glancing longingly at his book as he closed it.

"Don't try and impress her. She thinks it makes you look conceited and bigoted." Secretly, Remus agreed with Lily. "Don't be dramatic. Be sincere."

James stared at Remus intensely, pausing to absorb his wisdom. He nodded curtly. "Sound advice Moony. Most helpful."

"This." James said resolutely. "Is going to be the year. I can feel it." Sirius, Remus and Peter collectively groaned, Sirius threw his pillow, slapping James atop the head.

* * *

"Come on Lily, it's only been two days! He can't be that dreadful." Alice sat on the bed in their dormitory in a singlet and underwear, waiting for Lily to finish her rant before going to sleep.

"He completely zoned out during our meeting with the Prefects. His only comment was to ask if anyone knew if the house elves were serving beef or chicken sandwiches at lunch."

"Well," Alice considered, "the chicken is considerably better…"

Lily rolled her eyes.

Alice suddenly grinned. "Okay." She said, getting up from the bed and walking across the room to Lily. "This is what we're going to do. You are going to be civil to James Potter. And on alternate nights, you and me are going to continue the training we started in the holidays. You'll use up all your excess anger and energy."

Lily opened her mouth to reply. Alice lifted her hand, silencing Lily without magic. "No buts, Lily Evans."

Lily silently nodded in agreement. Their deal was made.

* * *

Remus held the parchment out in front of him as James, Sirius and Peter crowded around him. In a huddle, the four of them shuffled down the corridor. Peter's wand was alit with _Lumos_, providing light on their night adventures.

"I'm telling you Moony, we've covered the second floor pretty thoroughly." James skimmed his fingers over the surfaces of the half-completed Marauder's Map, tracing out patterns of classrooms, offices and living quarters.

"What we really need to figure out is how to map out people." Sirius glanced at Remus. "Speaking of, how's that research going for you Moony?"

"Non-conclusive." Remus muttered. He glanced down at the map before pushing open the door of what should have been an abandoned classroom.

The four Marauders stood in the doorway shocked as they watched two Gryffindor Seventh Year girls duel around the room. Lily and Alice dart around the room, the light of spells and last minute shields flashing brightly. Lily slid under a table, swinging her wand through the air and sending Alice backward, her back hitting the blackboard. A well placed hex sends Lily tripping over her feet and falling to the ground amongst a pile of broken chairs. Alice sends another spell at Lily, who raises her hand, levitating a chair in front of her, the plastic receiving the brunt of the curse. James and Sirius share a significant look as they both acknowledge to themselves that Lily just performed wandless magic.

The girls keep moving. Their movement is almost a dance. Alice flings herself behind a blackboard, dodging a hex. For a moment, the Marauders watch as Lily swings from the chandelier. Their clothes are slashed from dueling, their hair flying around their faces.

Sirius can't hold out any longer. "Okay. Did I just enter a living wet dream? Because whatever you do Prongs, don't pinch me." Sirius smirks, his arms comfortably folded across his chest, his hair falling lightly into his eyes.

Alice and Lily are suddenly still, skidding to a halt. Their wands dangle in their hands limply by their sides. Both girls are sweating heavily form the workout, their chests rising and falling rapidly as they look the boys over, assessing the situation.

James glances quickly at Remus, remembering his advice. Remus tenses in preparation for the yelling match doubtless to ensue.

"Did you just combine a cutting hex with a propelling charm?" James looks at Lily, trying to keep his gaze civil and politely inquiring.

Lily paused; she had expected a derogatory comment matching Sirius Black's snipe.

"Yes. The propelling charm adds force to the cutting hex. The trick is to supplement the passive syllable of the propelling incantation with the active element of the cutting spell."

James nodded thoughtfully and drew his wand, aiming it at a small table. The table is sent spinning unevenly to the right, the table legs wobbling. Lily smiled at walked up to James.

"Your arm movement's wrong. Although the cutting hex is supposed to be strong, you have to remember that Propelling requires more restraint."

James nods, his eyebrows furrowing. He begins to move his arm.

"Wait!" Lily reaches forward and stops his arm firmly. "You need to move more smoothly." Placing her hand on James' arm, she guides him through the wand movement. James carefully keeps his focus upon the table and not on Lily's touch.

The table is sent flying backwards, a gash in the wood splitting the table in two.

Lily grins. "Perfect."

A moment passes and James smiles at Lily standing next to him. Suddenly, Lily realises her hand is still touching James' arm. She quickly pulls back, turning away and running her fingers through her hair.

Remus, watching as Lily withdraws nervously, steps forward holding out his wand.

"Alice, what was that stronger variation of the traditional shield charm you used before? It seemed to protect against curses more effectively."

Suddenly, they were all practicing. Sirius flicked his wand, locking and re-silencing the door to give them privacy in their nighttime duelling.

James gives Sirius a lopsided grin and Sirius smiles back. This is perfect.

* * *

Author's Note: Please review - I'd love some feedback!


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